Nine Realms

After everything they'd been through so far, the ponies and Spike might have been forgiven for thinking that they wouldn't encounter anything that would shock them more than what they'd already encountered. And yet, it seemed fate had a different idea in mind for them, for all seven now stood at the edge of the cave entrance, looking up at the source of the tremors they'd been feeling before. At first glance, it appeared to be a being the same general size as a Jotun, but with some drastic differences. This creature, whatever it was, did not appear to be made of flesh and bone as they were, but rather like solidified lava. With every movement, cracks revealing the red hot substance underneath would emerge, releasing fumes of smoke with every tiny step or turn of its head. It's eyes were a deep red, and for a while it was as if it didn't see them, which they were naturally grateful for right now. But, as the group watched this strange behemoth walk by, Rainbow looked from it to her friends, and then back and forth several times over, before settling on Twilight.

"That...um...that was a giant...made of fire."

Twilight nodded.

"Yes...yes it was."

Rainbow blinked slightly.

"...A fire giant."

"Yes, Rainbow."

Rainbow paused yet again.

"...A great, big..."

But this time, she was interrupted by the sound of Pinkie slapping her forehead and grunting in irritation.

"Ugh! We've already done this bit, Rainbow! You went through the same exact thing when we met the Jotuns, remember?"

She frowned at her pegasus friend.

"Get a new routine! Sheesh!"

Rainbow frowned right back.

"Oh, forgive me for being a little shocked at seeing a friggin' fire giant walk by!"

Here, Twilight had heard enough.

"Girls! We need to make a plan!"

Applejack nodded in agreement to that.

"Anythin' in mind, Twi?"

It was a difficult question, given that they knew nothing about this creature or this land. But, at the same time, that gargantuan fire-based giant was the only living soul they'd met in this blazing realm. So, for the time being at least, Twilight knew there was only one real option for them.

"I'm...I'm going to talk to him."

As one would expect, all eyes suddenly snapped in her direction.

"What?!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Are you crazy?!" Rainbow added.

"You could get hurt!" Spike finished.

Looking down to the young drake, Twilight again placed her hoof upon his shoulder, speaking to him in a tone as reassuring as she could.

"Spike...if we show them that we mean no harm, if we try to handle this diplomatically...I'm confident they'll at least hear us out."

Spiked was still uncertain, and if she was being honest, Twilight felt the same way. But, she had a responsibility as his carer and their leader to present herself as somepony who knew what she was doing, even if she didn't entirely feel that she did. So, taking a deep breath, she lit up her horn again. Within moments, she was once more covered in the purple aura of her magic, which would protect her against the worst of the heat outside. Stretching out her wings, she set forth, travelling through the smoke-filled air and towards the lumbering giant ahead of her. The others stayed behind, seeing her go closer and closer to the thing, but always with a sense that she could do this. Twilight herself was growing increasingly nervous about being here, but she also knew she had little choice. When she was close enough, however, she cleared her throat.

"Um...excuse me...Sir?"

Her words had an immediate effect, as the fire giant halted in its tracks. Twilight took a nervous gulp, and watched as the creature turned its head ponderously. Before long, those big red eyes were looking right at her, as was an open mouth that, like everything else in this realm, was billowing smoke, even at times when the creature didn't even seem to be breathing. But, whatever was happening, Twilight had its attention, and after again clearing her throat, she spoke as calmly as she could.

"Yes...well...thank you for stopping to speak to me."

There was no response to that, and Twilight, who was staring to sweat just a little, got down to business.

"Sir...my friends and I are in trouble. We come from another world, and we've been trying to get back to it. But no matter where we go or what we do, there seems to be no end in sight to our journey."

Again, there was no answer from the huge figure before her, which was actually starting to irritate the young mare.

"Anyway...I was wondering if you at least knew where we were right now? What is this realm called."

Here, at the very least, she got an answer.

"...Muspelheim."

Twilight smiled.

"Muspelheim. Right, good, thank you. And...I don't suppose you know any way to get to other worlds from here...do you?"

The giant's face was hard to read, given that it wasn't the kind of face Twilight was used to seeing. But even so, it answered all the same.

"...No."

A disappointing answer, to say the least. Even so, this was Twilight's only acquaintance in this realm and as such she was determined to get some useful information out of him.

"I...I don't suppose you know anybody who does know of such things?"

For a time, there was nothing but silence from the creature, and it continued to bellow out smoke from both its mouth and eyes. Twilight, of course, was having a hard time seeing through all of that, but stayed where she was. After all, retreating back might show weakness, which was not a wise thing to do when faced with a being of great strength like this. Then, after several minutes of waiting patiently, Twilight watched as the giant slowly turned, raising its hand and pointing in one direction in particular.

"There...great mountain...find Surtr."

Twilight tilted her head.

"S...Surtr?"

The giant, looking back to her, gave a single slow nod.

"King of Muspelheim...he will know. He will say."

A smile crept onto Twilight's face. She had a lead, and she was more than grateful for it, as she gave a bow of her head to her informant.

"Thank you, Sir. I won't forget this kindness."

The giant did not bow back. Instead, it turned away from her, starting its long and slow march to wherever it had been going before Twilight had stopped it.

"Go...find other realm...leave Muspelheim."

Not the most pleasant of parting words, but Twilight was simply thankful she hadn't been burned or squashed during that interaction. So, with new knowledge in hoof, she turned, still smiling to herself, as she charged forward back to the cave. The others were still there, eagerly awaiting her return, especially Spike. In fact, as soon as Twilight landed back down, the young dragon rushed forward, holding her leg tight in an affectionate hug, to which Twilight couldn't help but giggle at. As for the others, they looked to her with curiosity.

"So...what did he say?" Fluttershy asked.

Upon hearing that question, Twilight's smile faded, and she let out a long sigh.

"Girls...I'm afraid...we've got more walking to do."